among them, of course, was john von neumann, father of what we call the von neumann architecture for modern computing and, of course, so much more. today is not necessarily about john von neumann, of course, but it is about "a martian's daughter," marina von neumann whitman whose business talent has been applied to other economic and social frontiers for almost 40 years. in her new autoboig friday, marina recounts what it was like to grow up in her unique family and continue to break town as a talented and credentialed woman making it in some of the most male-.comuated of some of the most storied institutions in america. marina was leaning in long before the phrase leaning in hit the popular vernacular. she is professor of business administration and public policy at the university of michigan, a former vice president and chief economist of general motors. she was the first woman appointed to the president's council of economic advisers in 1972-'73. she took that post from her academic position at pitt. she is now retired but had long years of distinguished service on the boards of j

in england thought, gee whiz, who is the von neumann? and so it was really in the harvard environment that all this kind of solidified -- >> uh-huh. >> and later, and this is a story i tell in my book, i'm undoubtedly the most mathematically ill literate economist on the planet. >> i think that's fascinating. >> i could no more pass general exams for a ph.d. in mathematics than fly. and there's a reason for it. directly -- my father, although he never knew it, was responsible for this great irony. because when i went to harvard the first term, i took calculus 1a, and that was fine, it was okay. it wasn't my most exciting course, but it wasn't my hardest one either. and i fully intended to go on to calculus 1b, but one day harvard in those days had a sort of month between terms, and i was walking down a hallway somewhere, and i ran into the chairman of the harvard mathematics department who was a very well known mathematician in his own right and, actually, had published a paper or two with my father. and i'm sure he thought he was just m

quite a woman it is my pleasure to welcome marina von neumann whitman. [applause] >> good to be here. i should say by the way i have served on the boards of court -- harvard and princeton but not simultaneously. [laughter] that is like serving on the boards of gimble's and macy's. [laughter] >> wonderful to be here. i must say this is a fabulous museum and i had us all tour i think a full one would take days and days but this is exciting. >> thank you. it was so much fun to take you around. looking at your father's face. >> he liked it but the department did not think it was dignified that is why they called it the ias machine which i think is much more boring. [laughter] >> you wrote one heck of a book and there is so much ground to cover but let's start at the beginning not long before the pitcher that is there behind us. everyone will want to know about the time you spent with your father and the memories of him. let's start with your mother and father because your mother was every bit as remarkable in her own way. >> that is absolutely true. and she

. >> marina von neumann whitman, daughter of mathematician john von neumann was the first female to serve on the president's council of advisers you should president nixon and -- under president nixon and in the 1980s she served as vice president and chief economist of general motors. she's next on booktv discussing her memoir, "the martian's daughter." >> in his 1999 autobiography, the physicist edward teller wrote this of the group of geniuses gathered together to work on the hydrogen bomb: we are martians who have come to earth to change everything. change everything, they did, and among them, of course, was the brilliant mathematician john von neumann, father of what we now call the von neumann architecture for modern computing and, of course, so much more. today is not necessarily about john von neumann, of course, but it is about a martian's daughter, marina von neumann whitman whose own great intellect and considerable business talent have been applied to